Launderable wax-impregnated dusting cloth and the like



Patented Nov. 25, 1952 NT OFFICE LAUNDERABLE WAX-IMPREGNATED DUSTINGCLOTH AND THE LIKE Joseph Parmet, Catasauqua, Pa.

No Drawing. Application June 26, 1950, Serial N0. 170,484:

13 Claims.

The present invention relates to a launderable, wax-impregnated dustingcloth or other materials and it particularly relates to a dusting clothwhich may be used repeatedly after laundering without substantialdecrease in effectiveness.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a novelduster of fabric or other material which will most effectively retaindust and prevent dust from being thrown into the air and which at thesame time may be readily laundered and after laundering will retainsubstantially all of its original effectiveness.

Another object is to provide a durable, impregnated dusting cloth orother material of the character described which may be used repeatedlyafter laundering and which will retain substantially its originaleffectiveness even though repeatedly laundered.

Another object is to provide a novel procedure for making dusting clothsor other dust collecting material which will assure the production ofdusting cloths capable of being repeatedly laundered without loss ofsubstantial effectiveness.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detaileddescription set forth below, it being understood, however, that thismore detailed description is given by way of illustration andexplanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changestherein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fromthe scope and spirit of the present invention.

It has been found most satisfactory to use as a wax collectingimpregnant of a dusting cloth a mixture of waxes and ones which will besolid or non-liquid at room temperature.

Such a solid mixture, contrary to expectations, collects dirt and dustabout as well as a liquid mixture, or as well as oil itself.

It has been found desirable, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention to provide a dusting cloth impregnated with a solid nonliquidwax and oil combination serving as a dust collecting mixture of low orzero saponification value and particularly with a high molecular weight,high melting point solid wax of the structure and character ofmicrocrystalline wax derived from petroleum materials.

This solid wax when impregnated upon fabric or cloth materials not onlygreatly enhances the dusting qualities of a dusting cloth but also isvery durable and resists laundering in lukewarm water or at temperaturebelow 125 F. over long periods of time.

When such a solid or mixture on cloth is laundered below its meltingpoint, the losses of dust-collecting material are negligible as comparedto when this dust-collecting material is a liquid.

It has been found in general that in order to provide a cloth which willretain and catch the maximum amount of dirt and dust, it is desirable tohave a wax of low saponification number less than 15 to 20, having ahigh penetration value and a melting point above 100 F.

The waxes generally should all be of the hydrocarbon type and they maybe mixed with other hydrocarbon materials, such as refined lubricatingoil or liquid or jelly petrolatum, but low melting point or liquidhydrocarbon materials may be maintained at less than 20% and desirablyless than 10% but with a high melting point wax (185 F. to 195 F.) theoil may run as high as to It is also possible to use similar hydrocarbonWaxes, such as ceresin and ozokerite, and in general other high meltingpoint hydrocarbon waxes which have low saponification values orsaponification values which are fairly close to zero. This waxapparently appears to act as a sizing upon the fabric, yarn, paper orother dusting material while at the same time it permits penetration andaction to detergent materials, such as soap, to remove such dust anddirt without the wax itself being removed. This sizing effect upon theexterior of the yarn or other material gives particularly satisfactoryresults in dusting and polishing and in connection with dust mops anddust cloths.

It is desirable to avoid mixtures containing vegetable or insect waxeswith the customary saponification values of 40 to 200 since these showlosses on laundering many times those with saponification values closeto zero.

With such a material only 5% or less of the wax material is lost on eachhand laundering at 125 F. compared with 50% or with other Waxes, such asJapan wax, carnauba wax or beeswax.

Interestingly enough, the. microcrystalline or similar Wax will retainlow melting point hydrocarbon material, such as mineral oil orpetrolatum jelly, upon the cloth in spite of repeated laundering.

In preparing the cloth or yarn for the purposes of the presentinvention, the microcrystalline wax is desirably included in a spindleoil solution having a viscosity of about 70 and containing minorproportions of ceresin or ozokerite, or both. Desirably small quantitiesof petrolatum either in liquid or solid form or paraflin may beincluded, as may also synthetic resins and latex, but these percentagesshould be below 25%.

Waxes such as carnauba wax, ouricury wax, palm wax and beeswax shouldpreferably be omitted or not included in amounts greater than Parafiinmay also be included, but here again should not be included in amountsover or To give several formulations:

Example Parts by Weight Microcrystalline 50 to 70 Ozokerite 5 0 to 20Ceresin 5 0 to 20 Petrnlahim 10 0 to 80 Stearamide of pentaethylenetetramine l 1 to 5 Paraeoumarin-indene resins 2% 2 to Oil soluble phenolformaldehyde r 1 0 to 5 Paraiiin oil .1 0 to 80 Napthenic oil 2 0 to 80White mineral oil 1 0 to 80 The solids in the above impregnatingcomposition should range at least from 50 to 75% or more. The oils andpetrolatum should be less than 50% and desirably between and 50%. Thesaponification number in all instances should be zero. The melting pointof the wax composition should be over 125 F. to 150 F.

The proportion of microcrystalline wax should be between 10 and 90% ofthe total composition. The melting point of the entire composition,including the oil, should not be less than 100 F. If macro crystallinewaxes are also employed, they should not be used in larger amounts than10 to 20%.

The preferred microcrystalline wax should have a melting point in excessof 150 F. and desirably from 155 to 195 F.

The additives should be from 2 to 10% and these additives may includealuminum stearate, calcium stearate, polybutadiene, dioctylamine, andhigh molecular weight imidazolines. It is also possible to includepour-point depressants used as crystal inhibitors in mineral waxes andoil additives used as tackifiers to impart adhesiveness to an oil orgrease and to increase its viscosity.

It is also possible to use hydrocarbon wax napthalene condensatesresulting from aluminum chloride reaction.

Generally, acids, esters, anionic surface active agents and nonionicsurface active agents should be altogether omitted.

In the impregnation, the various mixtures of wax, oil and materials aredesirably put in molten condition and then the cloth, cotton waste,fibers or other materials are dipped therein and otherwise impregnatedby spraying or padding with the molten waxy material. This spraying orcoating is desirably done with a temperature of about 180 to 200 F. andit has been found most effective to apply the material to cotton flannelor other felted or napped fabrics, following which the fabric is wrungout and dried.

It is also possible to impregnate the cloth or other material with thewax-oil mixture dispersed in an emulsion using a cationic emulsifier.The cationics in small concentrations do not increase the launderinglosses.

It has been found particularly desirable to include high molecularweight cationic materials such as amides of stearic or palmitic acid inamounts of not over 2 or 3% in the molten mixture.

It has been found that the resultant wax-impregnated dust cloth, cottonwaste. mop, paper or other material will withstand repeated launderingbelow 125 F. without any great loss of wax, and after long usage inrepeated laundering will only lose about 2% of its wax content and itseffectiveness in picking up and retaining dust.

For example, to give comparable prior art and present invention resultswith a laundering at 125 F.:

Oil treated cloth. loss per laundering Wax-oil mixture of prior art 50%loss per laundering Wax-oil mixture of present invention 2% to 10% lossper laundering To obtain uniform distribution after the initialimpregnation or to restore uniform distribution after laundering, thecloth, mop or flannel material which has been impregnated may be bakedfor a period of five to ten minutes up to 225 R, which will result in are-distribution of the waxy material upon the fibers.

The dusting materials of the present invention have a safe launderintemperature at lukewarm, which is about F., with an additional 25 to 30F. as a margin of safety.

Desirably the waxes used must have high penetration values and so mustbe plasticized with oil. Mineral oil has a saponification value of zero.The only waxes which have sufficiently low or zero saponification valuesare microcrystalline wax, ozokerite, and ceresin. Although paraffin hasa low saponification value, it is not too suitable, being crystallineand usually of low melting point, and moreover because it dissolves inthe oil. On the other hand, in the present invention, the oil dissolvesin microcrystalline wax.

The invention is not only applicable to dust cloths but also in floormops, dusting mits, and as sizing for paper, shredded fibrous material,and other material.

The embodiment of the invention described herein is to be consideredmerely illustrative, as the invention is susceptible to variation,modification and change within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of theinvention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what isclaimed is:

1. A dusting woven textile material surface coated with amicrocrystalline wax-mineral oil mixture solid at room temperatures.

2. A dusting woven textile material surface coated with amicrocrystalline wax-mineral oil mixture resistant to laundering at orabout 125 F.

3. A dusting woven textile material surface coated with amicrocrystalline wax-mineral oil mixture having a saponification valueof not over about 15 to 20.

4. A dusting woven textile material surface coated with amicrocrystalline wax-mineral oil mixture, said wax and oil beingsubstantially nonsaponifiable.

5. A dusting cloth material comprising fibers impregnated with a highmelting point non- 5 saponifiable hydrocarbon wax having a melting pointabove 100 F.

6. A dusting cloth material comprising fibers impregnated withmicrocrystalline wax.

7. A dusting cloth comprising fibrous materials impregnated withmicrocrystalline wax, mineral oil and a para coumarin-indene resincomposition.

8. A dusting cloth material comprising fibers impregnated with a mixtureof 50% microcrystalline Wax and 50% mineral oil.

9. A dusting cloth impregnated with a composition of mierocrystallinewax, mineral oil, a para coumarin-indene resin and an additive.

10. A dusting cloth impregnated with a composition of microcrystallinewax, mineral oil, a para coumarin-indene resin and a high melting pointfatty acid amide.

11. A washable launderable dusting textile material impregnated with ahigh melting point 20 non-saponifiable hydrocarbon wax selected from thegroup consisting of microcrystalline wax,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,852,114 Green Apr. 5, 19322,142,039 Abrams et al. Dec. 27, 1938 OTHER REFERENCES The Chemistry andTechnology of Waxes (by Warth), published in 1947 by Reinhold PublishingCorp., N. Y., N. Y. pages 283-284.

1. A DUSTING WOVEN TEXTILE MATERIAL SURFACE COATED WITH AMICROCRYSTALLINE WAX-MINERAL OIL MIXTURE SOLID AT ROOM TEMPERATURES.